The project "represents a generational opportunity for Canada’s offshore—one that could open a new deepwater basin and shape the province’s energy industry for decades to come,” said Equinor in a statement.

It describes the project as a phased subsea development tied back to a floating production, storage and offloading vessel (see diagram above).The Bay du Nord oil field, discovered in 2013 in the Flemish Pass Basin, has about 430 million barrels of recoverable oil in its initial phase.  Bay du Nord is the first such project outside the country’s exclusive economic zone, and its first in deep water, located about 500 kilometers east of St. John’s, Newfoundland, in water depth between 600 and 1,200 m, owners said.

Bay du Nord also is Canada’s first “life-of-field benefits agreement for an oil and gas project, to help ensure benefits continue throughout the project’s 25-year life, not just during development,” said the developers. Under the agreement, the project is set to generate more than 31 million work-hours over 25 years, giving the province preference in contracting, procurement and hiring, as well as a project equity stake of up to 10% and $4.6 billion in direct revenue in the first phase.

It also has targets to employ skilled trade apprentices—10% for construction and 15% for onshore operations—and a commitment of at least 1.9 million work-hours in engineering, project management and procurement management, says a project fact sheet. A minimum of 95% of Bay du Nord subsea components also must be fabricated in Newfoundland and Labrador, with the project committing about $72 million to research and development.

Bay du Nord  gained government environmental approvals in 2022, but it is opposed by environmental advocacy groups and others concerned about spill risks and lack of public hearings related to use of federal tax dollars for compensation to cover U.N. project fees estimated by media to be more than $720 million, 

Subsea and Saipem Set to Integrate

Meanwhile, an integration of Subsea 7 and Italy-based energy services EPC contractor Saipem announced last year is set to close in the second half of 2026, a deal valued at about $4.6 billion, company executives said in recent financial results updates. The new firm, to be called Saipem 7, will be based in Milan, Italy, but it still faces antitrust concerns in Brazil. The combined firm will have about 45,000 global employees and $45.2 billion in backlog, said Bloomberg.

Saipem CEO Alessandro Pulitti, is set to become CEO of the combined company at deal close, while Stuart Fitzgerald, joining Subsea 7 July 1 as CEO, will have that role for the Subsea 7 unit within Saipem 7, the firms said.

In an April 22 first-quarter results call, company CFO Paolo Calcagnini noted the firm's EBITDA at about $392 million for the quarter, up 33% year-on-year, with a margin expansion of 3.7 percentage points compared to the same period of 2023. "Assuming no major disruptions in the Middle East or Strait of Hormuz, we expect low single-digit revenue growth and double-digit EBITDA and EBIT growth for 2026, along with improved margins year-on-year," he said, also noting the restart of the Mozambique LNG project "that will contribute positively to the results."

Despite the Gulf conflict, CEO Puliti said "we made strong progress on all our projects in the region," with the firm reporting $1.3 billion in Q1 revenue in the Middle East. "The conflict ... has not had a material negative impact on our operational and financial performance in Q1. A big portion of our order intake to date has come from the Middle East, confirming the resilience of the commercial activity in the region."

He noted three Saudi Aramco contract awards totaling $900 million. "aimed at maintaining the production level of Safaniya, one of the largest offshore oil fields globally." Puliti said offshore operation for this project in Saudi Arabia will be carried out by construction vessels "that are currently dedicated to the Middle East, while the fabrication activities will be executed at Saipem Saudi Fabrication Yard in Dammam, minimizing the risk of potential disruption in the traffic through the Strait of Hormuz."

Puliti said Saipem backlog in the region amounts to about $13.5 billion at the end of the first quarter,  "mainly in the offshore segment. We have a dedicated fleet of construction vessels and drilling jackups in the Gulf."  adding that "there is no need for additional vessels to enter in the Gulf, nor for these units to transit through the Strait of Hormuz to execute projects outside the area." He said ""project execution in Q1 has been steady with only minimal and temporary disruption being recorded." 

Puliti acknolwdged that "a further prolonged closure of the Strait of Hormuz could impact the delivery of certain components which are critical to Saipem projects globally, in addition to disrupting worldwide logistics and potentially driving up inflation." But he also said the crisis would "further reinforce the already positive outlook for energy investment globally, on top of requiring additional investment needed to repair certain energy infrastructure in the Middle East."